We will always debate: the quality of the paper, the pixel density of the display; the cloth used on covers, the interface for highlighting; location by page, location by paragraph.
This is not what matters. Surface is secondary.
What are the core systems comprising the future book? What are the tools that need to be built?
As designers we will need to provide the scaffolding for these systems. The interfaces for these tools. Not just as surface, but holistically—understanding the shifting of emotional space, the import of the artifact, the evocation of a souvenir, digitally.
How will we surface the myriad data just below the words of digital books in organic, clean and deliberately designed ways? How will we shape the future book?
http://2011.dconstruct.org/conference/craig-mod
Craig Mod is a writer, designer and publisher concerned with the future of books, publishing, and storytelling. He lives in a tiny Bay Area village in the California full of dreamers, endless yogurt, and trees that let loose money when shaken just so. His writing appears mainly on his website, but has also appeared in the New Scientist, The New York Times, and A List Apart. He works as a designer for Flipboard.